Friday, ahead of Pittsburgh’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the 2026 Miss Smiling Irish Eyes and her court maidens were officially crowned.
The 2026 Miss Smiling Irish Eyes is Molly McKenna, and the court maidens Kennedy Kuntz and Sidney Hoover.
McKenna said that it is an honor to represent both her family and her family’s heritage on one of Pittsburgh’s biggest stages.
“With a last name like McKenna, I truly had no other option,” she said. “My mom’s a Kelly, before that my grandma was an O’Toole, like there was no choice but to be very Irish in my family. So it meant so much to get to represent not only my family but also my ancestors and our Pittsburgh Irish Community generally.”
Each year, the position goes to local young women to celebrate their commitment to their Irish heritage.
McKenna, Kuntz, and Hoover will be featured in today’s parade.
Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts Saturday
The Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the oldest and largest in the country and is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people Downtown for a city-wide celebration of Irish pride.
Before the parade stepped off on Saturday morning, the 2026 Pittsburgh Parade Day Dash got going at 8 a.m. The 5K race went through the North Shore and downtown.
The Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade will get underway at 10 a.m. Saturday, near the Greyhound bus station along Liberty Avenue.
From there, the parade will travel along Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies before ending beyond Stanwix Street near Commonwealth Place.
2026 Pittsburgh Miss Smiling Irish Eyes named
McKenna is a dean’s list student at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, where she is a double major in biology and chemistry. She hopes to attend medical school when she graduates.
Kuntz is a senior at Chartiers Valley High School, where she is a member of the National Honor Society and captain of the girls’ soccer team. Once she graduates, she’ll be heading to Westminster College to play soccer, major in biology, and minor in psychology.
Hoover is a sophomore at WVU, where she is studying exercise physiology and hopes to become a pediatric occupational therapist and help children living with disabilities.